mk5 adventures

Trip Report: Colorado 2022, day 9


The crack of ‘whenever’

Dang, I’m getting sick of typing. I thought I had this whole thing written up already, but I guess I only made it to day 8 back then. Let’s cut to the highlights:









This is the day I finally drove up to the summit of Mt Bross!





Upper approach...


14,172 feet!

I’m not sure if this is still a legal drive. It was at the time. A lot of private land in these parts.


Hikers on an adjacent peak

Ooh -- along the way, the summit got an F-15 flyover. And yes, of course I had the drone in the air. Luckily well below the summit. I didn’t get any footage of the plane itself, but here’s its shadow whizzing by:


Dashcam would have picked it up too, but it had shit the bed back in Utah


2024 update: I guess I panned the airborne camera up in time to catch a glimpse of it, too. This is like 1000' below the summit, flying above switchbacks in the road.


Kept a careful eye out for fighter jets when flying up top. Sadly they didn’t return.




Cool spot.

Then I got a most-epic breakfast burrito on Alma, then a growler fill in South Park. Or maybe BV – I forget. But in any case, I eventually made my way up to St Elmo.



I had been wanting to drive over Hancock pass for years, but from what I could tell at the time, the palisades and tunnel historical site on the far side were still closed by a rockfall, and there isn’t much lake fishing to be had in that direction either. Tincup would make better sense for this trip.



It rained off and on all evening, but I found some great fishing, and a convenient mostly-vacant USFS campground up there that simplified camping that night. It was beautiful up there!



And while I'm still saving up for that whole-ass steam train... I at least got a whole-ass rainbow!

Pretty beautiful sunset, I'd have to say.





I tried filleting a cutthroat that night. Delicious, but not worth the effort. Just cook ‘em whole – lesson learned.


Beautiful night



I think this is the highest I've ever been, other than on airplanes?

 

FINAL DAY: Colorado 2022, day 10!!!

Jesus this was a lot of pictures and typing.



I couldn't resist the urge to top off the freezer with trout before heading home, so I stopped down at the park res. Always a delight!

I didn't bring the camera down to the lake, so forgive the lackluster cellphone shots of the following wildlife:


First, we have some kind of fish that kept trying to eat my trout. I have no idea what this guy was. Hard to see him, but he's just below the upside-down rainbow. Maybe 12-14" long... and very toothy!


Then, this Bald Eagle swooped down, did a back-flip and belched out the national anthem.


Fuck yeah!

With that, it was basically time to head back home, to SoCal. I had work the next day. But... what route to take?

Well, I decided it would make sense to just take I-70. You know, for fuel mileage. So, it would only make sense to take the shortest route to I-70 from here...



Thus began a particularly epic if not ill-fated final phase of the adventure.



This is not exactly an interstate, but it's hard not to feel welcome here. It's almost as if it's designed for Tacomas!





Maybe not so much this part, though. Screeeech!



It has some fun little challenges:



But there was hardly anyone else on the road. In fact I only ever saw one other group. A jeep doubling back down, with a passenger standing up in the back seat. I guess that guy had crashed his side-by-side up at the top and was getting a ride back down. He asked if I knew a good tow company. I told him there was a volunteer group with a youtube channel, but couldn't remember what it was called. (Note: it is 'Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery,' and I haven't seen them post a video of such a recovery, so I don't know if or how he eventually got it out!)

Eventually I found said crash, right below the summit:




Ouch! Glad the guy was unharmed. I don't think he was in it for the fall.

I was a bit weary of snow, though, and the lack of traffic make me increasingly concerned the road would be impassible up top. But, I saw only this one little splooch on the way up to the summit:



So, I figured I was golden. Already half way to Aspen, and saving gas as well! What a smart person I was being, making such wise decisions all day!



This is a pretty awesome little road!





In fact I was having such a fun time enjoying the views and checking in with the wife, I didn't even notice all the snow drifts on the upcoming shelf part of the road...



Until, suddenly, I did...



I spent some time considering my options here. Although the first little bit of snow was small, it was already an enormous amount to attempt shoveling through. And far more lurked ahead:



The lower drifts looked more promising for winching across though...



It was just the upper ones that would be sketchy, being off-camber shelf roads and all, with definitely nothing massive or sturdy enough to anchor a tow line.

I probably knew in my heart this was stupid. But, I figured, these little drifts were already nearly melted through!... I could keep the two outer tires on dry terrain while punching through the snow, right?

I at least knew this would be sketchy enough to demand my full attention, so I landed the camera first. And with the dashcam still broken, I'm afraid I don't have any footage of the hilarity that ensued.

Yes, obviously, the very first drift instantly punted me entirely off the roadway, putting me alarmingly off camber and nosed downhill, and all I could do was slip further down the scree. This was ... not as fun as I had hoped. I was eventually able to use RWD to slip the back wheels downhill from the fronts, then climb back up to the far side of the drift.


My battery didn't last for the full duration of the work... I too was soon spent!

I then spent the next several hours shoveling out that whole stupid drift, and replacing all the rocks I had kicked further down the hillside, until there was no trace of this fiasco discernable, other than a freshly shoveled-through drift. Ugh!

(Yep, it turns out the whole bottom half of the drift was solid ice, which is both why I immediately slipped off it to the side, and also why it was a pain the ass to chisel apart with the shovel!)

I was obviously not going to make it to Aspen after all. Fuck. I let my wife know from the summit, then started the arduous drive back southward. Which was, of course, absolutely beautiful!









Rainstorms and darkness had moved in by the time I got down to the aspen groves...




Side-note: This side spotter cam has proven utterly invaluable on these adventures... I don't think I've popped the front passenger tire in several years!



It was well into night when I finally got back to pavement. And here's where I made my final mistake: turning south.

I was pretty exhausted, and like 12 hours behind schedule now. I was done adventuring. Certainly, backtracking to US50 would make the most sense, right?

Except US50 was closed. I got forced back onto SR92 again! GRRR!!!!!!!



I threw in the towel and called out of work the next day. I made it to ... I dunno, somewhere in Utah before I couldn't keep my eyes open.


Rest area somewhere in Utah

 

it's official...you're crazy

 

The very first time I went out in my first 4wd I got stuck on a shelf in the Sierras with a bit of snow and had to use that technique. I never would have thought of it, but my friend (who’s never owned a 4wd) suggested it and it worked. That was 41 years ago this month … thanks for triggering the memory.

 

The apple has ripened. Merry Christmas.

 

Holy crap - this setup is amazing!

Nearly every detail is something I've thought about doing for years, and just haven't taken the time to do so. I'm definitely saving this to reference in the future. Having had the setup for several years now, is there anything you would change aside from what you already mentioned?

 

Thanks! Glad to provide an update on this most-cherished project. Hope you wanted a gigantic wall of text! Check back next week--I want to add pictures but I don't have time to track down or take them right now.

---

I really like this setup. There are tons of super-modded trucks out there, with all sorts of bad-ass upgrades like winches and snorkels and stuff, but hot damn: the coolest thing about my truck is the hot shower.

Here's the update:

• My original plumbing used, I think, 5/8" OD PTFE tubing with Swagelok-style (dual ferrule) compression fittings. These are really good fittings for building things like chemical reactors (which is my plumbing background), and you won't believe how much it all cost. But it turned out that this wasn't the best choice for plumbing in the engine bay of an abused pickup truck, at least for the amount of flex/vibration imparted to the fittings as I plumbed them. Many of the fittings began weeping, especially when cold. After a few years of occasionally snugging them down to stem the leaks, the ferrules were shot. I wound up replacing all the PTFE lines with barbed fittings and 1/2" ID reinforced silicone hose, with spring-tension clamps. That has now been absolutely leak-free for over two years. (Plus, the hose and fittings were cheaper!) However, I had to jack up the body a bit to pass these larger hoses over the cab mounts. I think I added maybe 3/8" of shims to the body bushings. I also added more-elaborate thermal shielding in the engine bay, as silicone isn't quite as heat-resistant as PTFE.

[Photo of current engine-bay plumbing]

In hindsight, at least for showering, I think that 3/8" ID hose/tube would've sufficed for the pressurized-side plumbing, and maybe this would have fit without shimming up the cab. I'm not entirely certain, but if I were to do it again, I'd use 3/8" ID silicone hose with barbed fittings in the engine bay. (I'd still use 1/2" ID hose for the suction line, and elsewhere where heat isn't a concern -- this can be standard [cheap] vinyl hose)

Update: I tried to track down the silicone hose I used; it turns out it's no longer listed in the supplier's catalog, and there's no alternate with comparable specs. I am dealing with similar problems at work recently. The problem is that the global economy is being systematically dismantled. Don't worry, there is a communist dictatorship located between Tibet and Taiwan that is gleefully picking up all these pieces of dismantled global economy and putting it back together. You and I will eventually be able to buy basic engineering materials again, such as reinforced silicone hose. We'll just have to buy it in meters, and pay for it with Yuans... whatever the fuck either of those even are.

Anyway, you want the kind of hose that's reinforced with a fiber weave. I believe mine was rated to 120+ PSI and 250+ deg F. It was not cheap... perhaps $20/ft? Almost certainly overkill. Today's reading of the Good Yellow Book suggests the best available option is going to be a polyurethane hose with polyester braid, rated to 180F, available in 1/2" ID / 190PSI at $6.64/ft and in 3/8" ID / 200PSI at $5.31/ft. These pressure ratings provide plenty of margin, but note that strength decreases with temperature and age, so don't expect a 60PSI-rated hose to last very long connecting a 60PSI self-cycling water pump to a 220F heat exchanger, especially where it passes within 2" of your exhaust manifold. My search engine's AI claims that Versilon PU derates from 195PSI at RT to 110PSI at 180F, and is "generally safe to use" from -100F to 200F, but I can't find a factual reference, and the same AI once told me to microwave my cat.

​

• I'm now on my second shower faucet and fifth shower hose. The faucet started leaking after maybe three years, so I simply replaced it. Having now disassembled the old one, I'm confident I can clean or replace its seals to re-use it, if and when the new one leaks. I think this is just the natural result of hard water deposits and vibration in a plastic valve body.

However, the reinforced vinyl hoses that the shower spigots came with (and a subsequent replacement) simply don't stand up to being constantly pressurized and crammed into the mesh bag in my bedside. Nor does silicone -- I tried one of those too. They swell and lose their flexibility, then start kinking, requiring an ever-increasing battle to pull the shower out from its cubby and return it there. The hose eventually becomes hopelessly jammed or kinked, so there is no option but to replace it -- and that process is total nightmare, due to how "space efficient" I was with the installation. I have now done this several times; it's literally more work than swapping an axle.

[Photo of swollen kinked hose after I removed it, before I gave it the Office Space printer treatment]

But, I have some good news. My most recent hose replacement used a different style -- a metal flex hose that looks like this:

[photo]

As I'm posting without photos, here's an Amazon link to the hose:

$17 GwernKB Shower Hose Replacement,79"es Extra Long Matte Black Silicone Handheld Shower Head Hose with Brass Insert and Nut-Durable,Keep Soft under Cold Temperature,Anti-twist,Smooth Easily Clean

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC2MH6H8

I love this hose. It pulls from and coils back into the bedside effortlessly. It doesn't kink. Plus it is 2 feet longer than the longest reinforced-elastomer hose I was able to coerce into the bedside. It doesn't bind and cause me to inadvertently spray water all over my gear as I'm trying to seat the shower handle into its housing.

I'm only a month in on this one, so I don't know how it will stand up to road spray and mud thrown from the tires... but even if it eventually wears out, I'll replace it with the same type -- except I'll get an even longer one, because this one fits effortlessly with room to spare.

Take the vinyl hose that your shower faucet comes with and throw it into a volcano. Buy one of these of these metal-clad hoses instead. ​

• The thermostatic valve eventually failed; I couldn't figure out how to rebuild it so I simply replaced it. The replacement's body was slightly different and required some lathe work to fit, but this was a comparatively easy job compared to replacing the shower hose. With a sample size of one, I'd say the life of these valves, with chlorinated water, in a hot engine bay, is like 3-4 years. I noted a fair amount of deposits and wear on the brass vs. what I'd expect in domestic plumbing, but I don't think this is unreasonable.

[photo of old valve disassembled]

The thermostatic valve may fail, be cautious so you don't scald yourself. (Mine failed cold though, for the record, hopefully this is ensured by design.)​

• Another lesson I learned: Don't fill the tank with non-chlorinated water! I of course knew this already, but wound up doing it anyway in exasperation last year. I funneled 10 jugs of distilled water into the tank and hit the trail to camp... I had fish to clean, and more to catch! I did squirt in the last of my little bleach bottle as well, maybe half a mL, but apparently this wasn't enough, because by the next evening, the whole water system was scummed up and completely disgusting. I had to divert back to Denver so I could flush and bleach the fuck out of it in a friend's driveway. Fucked up his lawn so bad that his wife stopped sending us christmas cards. Then I spent a whole weekend back home to drop the tank and completely brush out and sanitize the whole entire system again. If I could go back in time, I'd tell myself to knock on doors in Leadville with $1000 in my hand, paid to the first person who would let me use their water spigot for a few minutes. I could double it and still come out ahead. That's a bit of an exaggeration, of course: if I could really go back in time, I'd win the powerball 500 times in a row and buy the entire nasdaq at IPO. I'd own the Colorado river, build a mile-tall dam across the Grand Canyon, and divert every last drop of it to this 12-gallon plastic tank in my pickup truck. Okay... maybe that's too much, but I'd at least buy a whole-ass steam train, with a bell and a fucking whistle.

Backstory: Apparently one of our pointless government shutdowns led to the situation where none of the USFS freshwater spigots were winterized across vast swaths of Colorado public lands a couple winters ago. Or at least that's what an irritated campground host told me, after I had scoured the entire Front Range and Arkansas watersheds looking for a single functional public water spigot. Maybe this happened for a different reason, not a government shutdown. I don't know, but the ground froze and the pipes burst. And I don't think that random government shutdowns and mass firings are going to fix any of these broken pipes.
​

• Perhaps my favorite aspect of the whole project is the motion-activated water faucet, which I can affix to the quick-connect fittings at either the front or back bumper of the truck. This is particularly useful for cleaning fish and washing dishes. The problem here is that I can't drive around with this faucet installed... it would randomly turn on and drain the tank as it flails from the bumper.

Of course, I constantly forget to remove this faucet after using it, and have probably driven hundreds of miles randomly spewing water onto the trail. I've also littered our public lands with countless bars of soap forgotten on my front bumper, and at least two toothbrushes... You can't fix stupid!

[photo of me driving around with the faucet installed, if I can find one]

But if and when I have more time to throw at this, I'd like to work up a permanently installed faucet, perhaps at the front bumper. So that I don't have to shuttle this little faucet attachment from the cab to the bumper each time I want to use it. Maybe a permanently installed soap dispenser as well. I'll have to work out some sort of switch, to turn the faucet circuitry on and off... with a timeout or vehicle-in-motion lockout, because I'll never remember to actually turn it off. Let me know if you come up with something before I do!​